EDITORIAL: We need confidence in police probes
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Updated: September 23, 2009 5:05 PM
A senior RCMP officer delivered a common sense message at the Braidwood Inquiry this week: police shouldn’t be investigating themselves. Obviously.
RCMP Supt. Wayne Rideout acknowledged that the war of public opinion isn’t winnable if RCMP conduct investigations into the conduct of its own officers. No doubt police have the tools, the skills and the competency to conduct such investigations, but the optics aren’t good.
Police can blame the reporting, blame the bloggers or blame the loud-mouthed libertarians, but police can’t deliver a convincing verdict when the perception of Blue Code of Silence still prevails.
Rideout’s acknowledgement came as the Braidwood Inquiry resumed. This is the long probe into the death of Robert Dziekanski at the hands of four Mounties in 2007.
Earlier this year, Judge Thomas Braidwood shelved the inquiry after an e-mail surfaced that contradicted evidence given by the officers who Tasered and killed the Polish immigrant. The e-mail only served to create more speculation about police competence—as it provided evidence officers planned to deploy the Taser before arriving on scene and assessing the situation.
No doubt police investigations are thorough. They’re also bound to be impartial. But it’s about time police have a citizen-led body to answer to just to be sure.
A body overseen by citizens and supported by police should not only continue the efficacy of investigations, but also be a positive step in convincing a polarized public that justice was served.
v2
